The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided discrimination by transgender status is not prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case involved Phillips 66 Co. extending a job offer to the plaintiff depending on a background check. Phillips 66 discovered that the plaintiff was not honest about the status of her employment and had been fired several days before the interview. When Phillips 66 withdrew their offer, the plaintiff alleged that it was based on her transgender status. A summary was granted in favor of Phillips 66 by a Texas trial court concluding that Title VII does prohibit discrimination based on transgender status, but the plaintiff could not show the court that the decision made by Phillips 66 to withdraw the job offer was because of her transgender status. During the appeal, the 5th Circuit Court decided in favor of Phillip 66, but did not agree with the use of Title VII in the decision. The 5th Circuit Court believed the judgement made by the trial court should have followed the past precedent of rulings that Title VII does not protect sexual orientation or transgender status discrimination. The Supreme Court announced it will review the decisions made by the appeals court regarding Title VII in order to resolve the split in rulings between the different courts.
